How to Make $3,000 in Two Months with SEO Writing

Note: This post has been fully updated with what works for SEO writing in 2017.

Kevin Cole first wrote this post in June 2013. After joining Location Rebel Academy in October 2012, he shared his successes. Using the steps outlined below, he was able to make $3,000 SEO writing in the first two months of starting his writing business.

We’ve gone through and updated this post for what works right now with SEO writing in 2017. If you’ve been considering giving SEO writing a try, this will help you get started today.

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Introduction

We get a ton of questions from people looking to join Location Rebel Academy asking whether SEO writing still works – it does, and the goal of this post is to outline how.

We’ve taken the original outline of Kevin’s post and updated it with what works today.

In this post, we cover the basics. You’re going to learn what SEO writing is, who it’s for, why we don’t think it’s dead, and how to get started today.

Plus, you’ll get a few examples of LRA members who have used SEO writing to build a business and some email templates to get your pitches up and running.

If you’re ready to get started, keep reading!

What Is SEO?

Before we get into SEO writing, you need to know a little bit about SEO (search engine optimization).

You’ve gone to Google and typed in a keyword, right? Once you put in your keyword and hit enter, you get pages and pages of results for that keyword.

The results at the top of the page are generally considered by Google (or whatever search engine you’re using) as the highest quality pages. Every brand and site out there want to be at the top of the search results for their particular keyword.

Not only is it prime real estate, but the top results get more clicks.

Here’s a real life example.

If you type the keyword ‘niche site’ into Google this is what you get:

Notice this site (yay) is the #2 result. Because we rank so highly for that keyword, lots of people come to this site, leading to increased traffic, more subscribers, and eventual new members.

You can see why ranking highly for keywords is important for brands. It can lead to more buyers, and brands like that a lot.

So when a brand wants to rank higher in those search engine results, they need to get their keywords out there. One of the best ways to do that is through building links back to their site.

There are a number of factors that go into building those links:

First, they need a high-quality page on their site that can rank.

Second, they need to make sure this page is optimized for the keyword they want to rank for.

Finally, they want “social proof” in the form of other websites linking back to that page.

As an SEO writer, you come in to help with that last part.

What is SEO Writing?

SEO writing is all about writing content that search engines can understand easily. It’s a form of content writing that helps brands and websites get ranked in search engines for the specific keywords they’re targeting.

Brands need writers to help get their keywords out there.

Why does this matter?

There’s an SEO strategy called article marketing that has been around for years.

The idea is to write a lot of articles all focusing on a specific keyword and/or related keywords of the page you want to rank. These articles get posted to various sites all over the internet and link back to your page.

This tells Google “oh hey, there’s a lot of links to this page, it must be good” and they rank it higher.

In the internet marketing world content is king. Internet marketing companies, brands, websites, and even bloggers need great content to run a successful business. That’s why they hire SEO content writers.

As the writer, it’s your job to create an article that highlights a specific keyword, is good quality and can be easily read by Google bots.

It’s certainly not the most interesting of writing, but for now, it’s still a way for companies and brands to get their content and keywords ranked. Since it’s one of the most basic ways of building links, there are still opportunities for writers who are looking to break into making money online in an entry level way.

Is SEO Writing Dead?

There’s a lot of talk about blog content writing today. Think of SEO writing as a subset of that.

We won’t sugarcoat it, is SEO writing harder now than it used to be? Yes.

In the past, getting ranked was as simple as creating a bunch of SEO articles posting them online in the right places and watching your rankings grow.

These days it isn’t quite that simple.

This strategy became really popular about a decade ago, and because of this, there was a boom in the number of people doing it.

As search engine algorithms have gotten smarter, it’s become harder to be successful, simply because their quality guidelines have gone up as well.

The good news for you, though, is that there is less competition from unskilled writers from places where English isn’t the first language.

So, where some people see challenges, other writers can see opportunity. They’ve been able to position themselves as SEO content writers who know the basics of SEO, understand what the Google algorithm is looking for, and can write articles that meet those guidelines.

We’ve had a number of members like Kevin, who have used SEO writing to boost their income and make extra money.

Here’s an interview with Avery. She’s used SEO writing as a way to bring in side income that has helped her travel the world with her family.

Carlo and his girlfriend, Florence, started out as SEO content writers. As they got more clients, they started hiring other writers to help complete the work. Now, they have their own writing agency and provide SEO content to brands from all over the world.

Carlo and Florence’s story highlights how SEO writing can serve as a base to branch out to lots of business potential.

Blair is another LRA member who decided to go the agency route like Carlo and Florence. He joined and went all in on SEO writing. Making over $4,000 in his first month, and 10 months later, was grossing over $6,000 per month managing a stable of other writers.

Here’s what he had to say over a series of emails:

This may not seem like a big deal to you, but I quietly set a goal for myself this month and it took me until 11:59 PM on January 31st to make it! My goal was to generate $4000 in SEO writing income in January. I’m proud to say that I actually did it! My final number was $4030. This is also with a full-time job.

It’s tough to put into words what has happened since I’ve joined Location Rebel. I started with the SEO writing blueprint in January and am happy to say that as of right now I’ve grossed $35,000 this year alone from writing. On top of that, I’ve subbed out over 90% of my writing. I’m still working a full-time job as well but hope to be able to leave the 9-5 at some point relatively soon. Thanks for all that you have done. I truly believe that if you are willing to put in the time and effort you can totally succeed with the Location Rebel program.

BIG NEWS! So, I put in my notice on September 18th. I actually gave my company a one-month notice because a lot of what I did was difficult to hand off. It’s been a surreal month, but last Friday was my LAST DAY!

I’m consistently grossing over 6K each month with one month where I grossed 8K. I’m hoping with the additional time that I have I will be able to grow the business even more.

I appreciate your help throughout the journey and I’m so glad I decided to join LR in January of this year. It’s amazing to think about what has happened in 10 short months!

If you’re wondering if Blair is still running his content writing agency, the answer is yes! We just got another email from him in June 2017.

Who is SEO Writing For?

We see people (both in and out of LRA) making money from this type of content writing all the time.

Is it the sexiest work? Not by a long shot.

At Location Rebel Academy we look at it as a way to get your foot in the door as opposed to a long-term career option (unless you’re looking to follow in the footsteps of Carlo and Blair).

SEO writing is not particularly well paid, especially at the entry level, so unless you’re churning out dozens of articles a week, you won’t be getting rich.

The Beginner

But for the absolute beginner, this is a good place to start. One thing note for beginners, as the Google algorithm has gotten more advanced, it relies more on quality content in English.

So, non-native English speakers tend to see more difficulty if their written English isn’t really on point. It wasn’t always like that but is increasingly moving in this direction.

It’s especially good for people who are currently in a job and are thinking about taking the leap but haven’t started anything yet. While it’s not exactly the free for all it used to be, this type of writing can help you make a bit of money and build your confidence in the freelance process and your ability to get work.

This does more than just put some money in your bank account, it also helps you get into the mindset that you can make money online. That in and of itself is something that’s worth it for a lot of people.

Liz’s Example

Building up a solo SEO content writing business while still in a 9-5 job is the method Liz took when she started with LRA. She spent a year building up clients and income from SEO writing and then blog writing before she left her full-time job.

This helped her bring in some cash flow to add to her savings but also was a huge confidence builder. She learned she did have the skills to get clients and make money with her writing.

Then, when she did quit, she wasn’t stressed looking for clients and income while starting from zero. She already had a few clients and could start transitioning up the content writing ladder.

Now that you know what SEO writing is, we’re going to show you how to get started, step by step.

Let’s get to it.

Step 1: Get Your Site Up and Running

First things first, you need to claim your little corner of the internet.

Now, it’s not 100% required to get a website but frankly, it just makes things easier. Plus, it’s always a good idea to own your name as a URL (or as close to your name as you can get).

As a starting point, yourname.com is a great way to go.

The URL or name of the site doesn’t have to be anything fancy. It just needs to be something simple and straightforward.

Don’t waste lots of time trying to come up with something creative or clever, you don’t want to get bogged down here. You want to get to searching for clients as soon as possible.

You can use a site like NameCheap and their bulk search to brainstorm a few ideas.

Here are a couple of easy examples you can use:

Try to get the .com if you can. If you can’t it’s fine to use .net or .co (or .co.uk for example if you’re in the UK).

What we like about simply using your name, is that it allows you to pivot easily in the future if you decide to move on from just writing. You’ll likely not always be an SEO writer, so it gives you some flexibility over the long run.

For instance, this blog was simply seanogle.com for 7 years before we moved to the Location Rebel domain.

Once your domain is established sign up a for any hosting account and install WordPress.

Step 2: Content and Design

To get started with your site, keep it simple. This is an area where you can easily go off the rails and waste a lot of time. I’ve seen that happen quite a bit with brand new members.

Remember, at this stage of the game, your site does not have to be fancy, all you need are the basics. As you get more experienced and know which direction you want to take your business, you can step up your game.

All you need to get started is to create five pages in total.

Home Page

This is the second most important page on the site. It’s the first thing potential clients see when they come to your site so it needs to be in tip-top shape.

Write a little intro, and then give them some reasons to stick around. You can highlight your unique selling perspective (USP), that is what makes you special, or why someone should hire you as opposed to all those other SEO writers out there.

If you think you don’t have a USP to highlight, spend some time thinking about it. It’s likely you do. Maybe you’re super quick at writing, or you love to research, or you have a specialty from a job or degree in an advanced topic, or you’re a local writer.

There are tons of things to highlight that will make you stand out, so be sure to add those here.

Another key to the home page is to focus on the customer. the point of the home page is to let potential customers know the services you offer and how you can help them. Write this with your customer in mind and highlight the ways you can deliver results.

Remember, the point of the home page is to let potential customers know the services you offer and how you can help them. Write this with your customer in mind and highlight the ways you can deliver results.

That means things like:

Communication style

Delivery turnaround time

Niche or area of expertise (if you have one)

Writing and editing process

Why they should work with you instead of all the other writers out there

Too many people approach SEO writing thinking about themselves, instead flip it and think about your potential clients. Taking that approach is the best way to keep potential customers on your site and have them click over to your samples.

About Me

The about page is all about humanizing yourself and your business. Too many people ignore this part of their brand. If you’re running a business, your personality and experiences matter and can appeal to other people, especially potential customers.

The easiest thing to do is show that you’re a real person. You’re not some sort of shop that spins or re-writes articles, you run your own brand and you care about what you put out there.

Share a little bit about yourself. Highlight a bit of your backstory and even a few of your hobbies. You’d be surprised at the things that jump off the page for people and really connect with them.

Don’t be afraid to let your personality shine through. Too many people think they have to hide that on their about pages and be ‘professional.’ In today’s world, professional doesn’t mean stuffy and boring, it means you have a great personality and deliver great content for your clients on time.

Also, explain why you got into the writing business.

If you have a niche or area that you’re focusing on with your writing, be sure to explain it here too. A lot of brands are interested in niche writers now.

Since everyone is competing for keywords, many brands would rather work with someone who really knows their subject matter than just any writer off the street.

It’s a great idea to also have an image of you here. Like we said, people want to feel like they are dealing with a real person. It doesn’t have to be a perfect headshot, but keep it relatively professional and show off a nice smile.

Writing Samples

Next up, your writing samples. This is another area where people get held up. It’s normal and natural to be a little nervous about getting your first writing samples up and running on your site.

That’s ok. The key is to stop over thinking and start writing.

You want to have a minimum of two and up to five samples to start. If you’re into a specific niche or specialized topic, make sure you highlight more of those topics in your samples to show you have some depth.

Also, keep in mind, your samples don’t have to be set in stone. As you become a better writer, go back and refine your samples.

There are a couple of reasons why having samples on your site is important:

Most potential customers want to see content that is live online, so they prefer links versus getting emailed a pdf document.

If you don’t have samples, it’s very hard for a potential client to see how you write, which dramatically reduces your chances of getting hired.

You can use your samples to showcase what you know and those little USPs that will set you apart, maybe you can highlight how you’d also be able to write social media shares or metadata for your content for clients as well

Having samples helps with your own sites SEO, which never hurts, right?

We’re going to cover the basics of the writing sample in the next step.

Rates

On this page, you can set up how much you plan to charge people, any discounts you may want to run, and any other special notes a potential client may want to know.

Any other special services you might offer (maybe you’ll come up with social media posts as well, or design a nice cover image, etc.)

There has been a debate out there for a while on if people should have a rates page. The reality is, there is no right or wrong answer.

To start see what works for you.

Try having a detailed rates page that highlights everything. If you prefer not to have one, that’s ok too. You can add something like “rates are available upon request” or “I price on a per project basis, so please contact me for rates” on your page.

It can’t hurt to experiment and see if one method brings you better results.

It looks way more professional to have john [@] johnsmith.com as opposed to johniskingoftheworld [@] gmail.com.

If you do want to use a Gmail account (or something similar), keep that professional too, use johnsmith [@] gmail.com or johnsmithwrites [@] gmail.com.

You should also use a contact form.

This is easy. Just get a contact form plug-in from WordPress, install it on your contact page, and you’re good to go.

Design

A nice design helps but again, it’s not something you want to go overboard with. There are tons of quality themes you can buy today.

If you go to a site like ThemeForest, you’ll see that spending anywhere from $25-50 can land you a really high-quality theme. These themes will be easy to install, responsive (works on mobile), and look great.

The specifics of the design doesn’t matter. Potential clients are coming to your site because you can write. Not design.

But there are a few things you want to keep in mind when looking for a theme:

Don’t go crazy picking a complex theme, you will waste hours and hours trying to get it to look good, time you should be spending on finding clients

Make sure it works on WordPress

Make sure it has a help desk, anyone who is new to creating a website will run into issues, so a responsive help desk will solve a lot of problems (and time)

Look for a responsive theme, most people look at the web from mobile devices today it will be easier for them to navigate

Beyond the design and your pages, there are a couple of additional things you can do to make sure your site is optimized.

For example, you might want to target a local area, so if potential customers are looking for a Portland based writer and type that into Google, you pop up.

Step 3: Writing Samples

Your writing samples are where you can really shine. Each and every one of your potential clients is going to look at your writing samples.

Check Your Grammar and Spelling

These have to be near perfect. Don’t even think about putting up samples that have simple spelling and grammar mistakes.

Remember, this is your first impression with a potential client, so don’t skimp on this step. After all, would you be interested in hiring someone who had tons of spelling or grammar mistakes in their samples?

It’s not professional and is something that can easily be avoided, so don’t disqualify yourself before you start.

Be 100% sure you run through the grammar and spelling of each of your samples a few times. It’s probably a good idea to have another pair of eyes take a look at them, pay an editor, or use tools like Grammarly and the Hemmingway App to spot any mistakes.

The Number of Articles

Write at least two and up to five articles. If you’re chomping at the bit to get started, do a minimum to two articles, and you can add more as you go.

Even if you advertise that you’re specializing in a specific niche it’s still a good idea to write some sample articles out of your chosen niche.

In the beginning, you’ll probably be taking a variety of writing work so you should have a variety of sample articles. If you do have a niche you really want to focus on, be sure you have at least three or four of those samples. Then one or two in another area to highlight some variety.

Write a little bit of everything and make them damn good.

Writing Tips

A lot of people get stuck when it comes to the actual writing part. They don’t know exactly how to get going with their writing.

Here’s a very easy way to get started with a 500-word post. Think about features and benefits. For any keyword come up with 3-7 benefits or advantages of using it, then write about them.

Uses keyword 1-3 times in the article in a way that sounds very natural (no “keyword stuffing”), a good rule of thumb is one keyword for every 250 words

Uses keyword in the title

Includes a link back to the site you wish to rank with the anchor text being the keyword (anchor text is what the link says. In this link for Location Rebel, “Location Rebel” is the anchor text)

We’ve created this visual for you to see the steps that go into writing this type of content:

Once you’ve got your first article written, simply rinse and repeat. As you get more comfortable writing these, you’ll know what works for you.

Step 4: Email Template

Now that you have an established website it’s time to write up an email. Since this is the email you are going to start using for your cold pitches, it also has to be solid.

Sending emails is the hardest (and sometimes most demoralizing) part of the entire process. Be prepared, you will get a lot of no’s, and you will get a lot of people who won’t even respond.

This is a fact of life.

More often that not with this type of content writing is it’s a number’s game. That means sending out 10 cold emails is oftentimes not enough. You have to work with a combination of creating a really good email, a little bit of luck with timing, and finding the right people. That mix can be hard to nail every single time.

The good news is it only takes one yes to get started. And that’s what you’re looking for here. The first yes.

This is where the cold email comes in.

A great email can dramatically improve your chances of getting that yes.

But first, we want to highlight a few of the cardinal rules of sending pitch emails. Follow these tips and you will have better chances of getting your emails read.

Here are a few:

Keep it short you want your email to be about 150 words, longer than that and it won’t get read (seriously)

Don’t copy and paste the exact same email and send it to everyone

Include links to your site and sample articles

Write each email for one person and make it personal (yes this takes more time, but it gets better results)

Highlight how you can help deliver results, save them time, and make them more money

We are real sticklers when it comes to email.

The reason is simple, it’s because 95% of the pitch emails people get are absolutely terrible. It honestly doesn’t take much extra effort to separate yourself out from the 95% of bad emailers and get actual results.

Get Personal

The best way to set yourself apart with your emails is to get personal. Find something, anything, that you can include in your email (in just a sentence or two) that can make a connection. The vast majority of people won’t be willing to do that so it’s an easy way to set yourself apart.

Here are ways to find out personal information (without being a stalker):

Website: Yup, actually read the website, including the about page you can find out some good info there

Social media: See what kind of content they are tweeting, make a note of anything that’s not exactly business related like a hobby, pet, or joke

Employees: Many brands will also have their employees tweet too, maybe you know one, or have a friend of a friend, or the CEO tweets as well, see what information you can glean from there too

Google: Search for the brand and also the CEO or marketing manager online, see if they’ve written any posts or got a recent award or were quoted in an article or participated in a charity event

These all seem like really small things, but deployed in the right way, it can cause an instant connection and push you to the top of the list.

Here are some things you can mention in your email:

Location – (i.e. this works if you’re targeting local brands, make it a USP that you’re a local writer)

Hobbies – People always connect over hobbies, pets, etc.

Education – Maybe you went to the same college or high school, mention that

Recent news – If you got any results from your Google search, mention an article or quote you liked, congratulate them for the award they won

As you send more emails you will get a sense of what works and what doesn’t. So use this as a starting point and tweak from there. Most people will have to change their pitch email a number of times before they land on one that works consistently.

Hey, [Name]!

My name is Sean Ogle, and I’m a freelance content writer based out of Portland, Oregon (I hope it isn’t as rainy back in [their town name]).

I wanted to reach out because I’ve done some freelance writing for a few companies similar to yours. I specialize in consumer products, the golf industry, and brand copywriting – but have worked with a bunch of other industries as well.

Any chance you guys are currently looking for high quality, reliable writers? If so, just let me know a little bit about your needs and maybe we can work together.

Alright, time to see if Tiger Woods can still hit a golf ball. [Replace that with some other timely, casual, current event]. Thanks for taking the time, and hope you have a great weekend.

Cheers,Sean

The above template hits all the main points we talk about above. It’s short, to the point, personal, clearly not a template, and offers content the client would likely need.

The Follow Up

There’s something else to keep in mind with your emails, and that’s the follow-up.

A lot of people send one email, hear nothing back and move on.

But, you’d be surprised to find you can nab a few clients just by simply following up and staying on their radar. On your spreadsheet (more below) where you keep track of who you are sending to, note if you’ve heard back.

If you’ve heard nothing back after 3-5 business days, send a follow-up email. We recommend forwarded the previous email you sent and adding a few sentences at the top as a friendly reminder.

This is what it can look like:

Hi Client [Company Name or Person’s Name],

I’m following up on my email I sent you last week (see below). If you are currently looking for writers, I’d love to help! You can see some of my sample pieces here [link to your website or samples].

Look forward to hearing from you, [You]

Keep track of your follow-ups as well. Don’t be afraid to follow up again and again until you hear no. Make a schedule to follow up after a month, three months, six months, and so on.

Sometimes all you need is to be in the right place at the right time to get a yes.

Step 5: Collecting Emails

Now that you’ve got a website and a solid email template it’s time to market your business.

This part is really important. The fact of the matter is, people aren’t going to just discover you and beg you to write for them. You have to put in the work.

A big part of being a freelancer is constantly pitching. You need to have lots of irons in the fire to avoid dips in income and lack of clients.

In order to find clients, you’re going to have to send out a bunch of emails to internet marketing companies, brands, product sites, and blogs.

As content writing has evolved, you don’t have to limit yourself to just searching for SEO marketing companies to pitch. Don’t hesitate to reach out to local small businesses, blogs, and other sites that could use writing services. You can also hit up job boards, find more on that (including places to pitch) right here.

To find your potential clients you just have to do a simple Google search.

The best way to start is going local.

So use your But the key with your Google search is to direct your search to your current location and terms like ‘SEO company’ or ‘digital marketing company’ or ‘search engine marketing.’ You can play around with the search terms and see what you get.

Here’s an example for the local Portland, Oregon area:

Go through the results in Google, check out the sites and find contact emails.

Then it’s time to make a list.

You can use Google Docs but any program will work, just keep it simple. Write down the name of the company, the email address, and the name of the CEO (if it’s visible).

As we suggested above, it’s also a good idea to poke around the site and social media accounts for a few minutes too. More than likely, you’re going to be able to find something that you can include in your pitch email.

Make a note of these things on your list too, so you can easily reference them when you get your email template ready.

Note: If the email isn’t visible then just copy and paste the contact form URL into your list. It’s fine to connect with people that way if there is no other option.

You can go to a site like Fiverr or UpWork and pay someone to create a list for you. But, buyer beware, a lot of these people are just handing out the same list to everyone. So while it might take up less of your time, you’re also likely going to have a smaller success rate of getting actual responses.

Now it’s onto the final step!

Step 6: Send Out Emails and Make $$$

Finding potential clients is a numbers game. You have to send out a bunch of emails and only a few will bite. But that’s all you need.

Don’t get discouraged if you don’t get many responses. Most people send out dozens and dozens (if not hundreds) of emails and will only hear back from a handful. If you’ve sent out a ton and have heard nothing back, then consider tweaking your email and keep at it.

With only a few clients giving you recurring work you can start making hundreds if not over $1,000+ (if you’re really hustling) per month.

Set up a plan around sending your emails.

Do 5-10 every day and set up a rotation to follow up. If you don’t have the time to look during the work week, then set aside two hours on your weekend and blast out emails to as many potential clients as you can.

Don’t slow down with the emails, especially at first. Just because you might get a bite it doesn’t mean you’ve landed a client. If you stop sending emails and never hear back from them, you’re back to zero with your momentum.

Don’t Think of It as ‘SEO Writing’

Most online writing now is called ‘content.’ Content covers everything from SEO articles to blog posts to sales pages, ebooks, and email newsletters.

So, positioning yourself as a content writer is an excellent place to start your career. That’s why we tend to steer people on this path as a place to start.

One of the biggest things we hear from current members who are using SEO writing to bring in some income is they sometimes get better results by offering content writing. Since content is the thing everyone is out there looking for, the terminology has changed but the idea hasn’t.

This is one of the reasons why at the start of 2017 we tossed out the SEO Writing Blueprint at Location Rebel Academy and rewrote it, creating a Content Writing Blueprint.

Approaching SEO writing as content writing can help open doors to other types of writing (many of which are higher paid).

Ready to Get Started?

SEO writing has a relatively low barrier to entry.

It’s not quite as easy now as it used to be, but it can still be a way to get your foot in the door and bring in some money. If you’re looking to cross the threshold into entrepreneurship but can’t figure out where to start this is your answer.

Comments

Glad to see things have panned out well for you. I remember when I joined LR, yourself, Stuart and a few others were all starting the SEO writing at the same time. And fast forward half a year, and things have all worked out for us.

Thanks for sharing this, Kevin! I think it will do wonders for giving people the confidence needed to join LR and get started on their location independent journey.

The Location Rebel community is life-changing, and joining it was definitely the best decision I’ve made in a long time.

I think one of the best things about LR is that the community there REFUSES to let you fail. If you need help with anything, a dozen people sprout out of the woodworks with answers to all of your questions and a boost of motivation to go with it.

You hit the nail on the head about people REFUSING to let you fail on LR. It’s so true man. No matter what you need there is someone on there who is knowledgeable on the topic.

My favorite part about the community is that there is a wide arrange of people on there. You have SEO writers making their first dollar, you have eCommerce experts traveling around the world, and you have people who don’t know what SEO stands for.

The local aspect must be the key to this. I tried almost the same process a few years ago. I know I sent out well over 100 emails. The only freelance work offer I received was someone telling me I charged “way too much” at $20/500 words, but he offered $5/500. Ha! Yeah, right. I did, however, have two companies where I used to live want to hire me full time. Too bad I’m 12 time zones away. To be offered jobs I couldn’t accept was so disheartening I stopped emailing. I’m print published and have been paid up to $50/500 words for SEO stuff–I do have clients, but I can’t seem to get this “targeting SEO companies” thing to work.
Anyway, here’s to your continued success!

Targeting local SEO companies is definitely a good strategy to get your foot in the door, but not necessary. I only sent out about 40 emails when I first started, and haven’t had to send out emails since because I’ve been getting so much recurring work from my clients.

Here’s an alternative method of generating profit if you’re good at writing articles. Start a micro-niche website on a profitable niche.

a) Find the profitable niche

Here’s my way and it works better than looking at Google Keyword Tool statistics:
-Head to Flippa.com / Sold websites and search for website in the range of 400-800, with different keywords. You’ll eventually find an profitable niche there than you can expand.

b) Write quality articles targeting the key phrases

c) Add AdSense after some time (2 weeks).

The only bad part of this type of business is that you depend on AdSense(if you use them). I used them and they banned me, along a good percentage of European people for nothing last year. Still, managed to earn in my first two months with only a few website, up to 10 euros a day.

Thanks for sharing this man. I have a few friends who have done similar business models before. It’s pretty awesome stuff. You can try affiliate sales instead of Adsense. You won’t have to rely on Adsense and your rankings will soar just as well.

Or you can have a full-fledged eCommerce store (which is what I’m doing) and can make even higher profit margins.

great article and thumbs up for your success! Thanks for sharing the steps on how to get there. I´m trying to work out the economics and how many hours per week are needed to earn about 1500 USD a month. It all stands on assumed 2hrs per article, but that´s an estimate based on other websites – would be great if you could let me know, how much time on average do you spend on an article?

This is my model of working out the hours needed to achieve a certain earning per month:

If I charge: $ 20.00 per article
And want to earn: $ 1,500.00 a month
And if I write at speed 2 hrs per article
I need to write: 75 articles
And spend writing: 150 hrs per month
Or spend writing: 38 hrs per week

Lukas, once you get some practice under your belt you should be able to write MUCH faster than one article per 2 hours. When I first started, I wrote at about 45 min per article, but I’ve since reduced the time it takes down to about 20 minutes. Also, in LR there are other strategies that can show you how to get started in SEO writing without actually doing any writing. You can definitely make $1500 a month without spending anywhere close to 38 hours a week writing.

Yea, once you git a bit of practice, you can snap out articles fast. My record was 7 minutes per article, once I studied the niche for a bit. Wasn’t the best researched article,but Google put me 1st on the first page back then.

Once you start writing articles you’ll develop a routine along with an increase in speed.

I started out at about 70-90 mins per article simply because it was all new and I wasn’t sure of what I was doing. But with the techniques and tricks suggested to me in Location Rebel I quickly got that down to under 30 from start to finish.

It’s people like you who inspire Kevin; your story hit the last nail and I am ready to join Location Rebel now! See all you wonderful guys on the inside pretty soon.
And thanks Sean for creating such a meaningful and thriving community.

I was definitely trying to keep it as simplistic and straight forward as possible. Outsourcing writing work is definitely a viable option for sure. I know a few people on Location Rebel who are doing that. It allows you to expand your business, make more money and do a lot less writing.

In the beginning I took any writing job no matter how much it paid. I just wanted to get moving and make some money. But after a month’s time I felt like I had solid footing and started charging what I was worth.

My usual rate is $20 for 500 words. That’s a pretty standard rate for a lot of writers but some people charge more than I do. It really depends on your own experience and how well you can convey the value of your work to the client.

Let me preface my comment with huge support for LR. I was part of the “first class” on LR, and it helped me become location independent. I’m a huge supporter of Sean and LR. In the past 6 months, I’ve lived in Asia, the NYC area, San Diego, and no the Dominican Republic.

That said, I think where this post falls very short is how simple, quick, and easy it makes the entire process. The last step is literally “send out emails and make money”. What? To me, that’s not what LR is about. It’s about working your ass off, building a real, full fledged business, it’s not about quick fast simple 6 step processes, or plans to ‘get rich quick’

You bring up a fair point man. This post was meant more so for the start-up portion of the biz. Not the writing portion of the biz. Most people are more confused on the beginning steps (building a site, creating an email template, finding clients).

I was trying to make it simple and straightforward so you can go from nothing to something in a pretty logical fashion. That being said, writing is not glamorous. I wrote over 60,000 w0rds in those two months.

I’m not a fan of “get-rich quick” stuff and this post was not intended for that category.

I have nothing constructive to add to this other than: awesome. Really, really awesome. I love to hear this kind of stuff, and it’s a great post to boot.

The Location Rebel community is full of people who want to help. I’m always stunned by how eager everyone is to chime in and help somebody bust through roadblocks. Often, I log in only to see that questions have already been answered by fellow members. That’s a great thing!

Thanks for the kind words man. I can honestly say your post back in January totally changed my approach to this business. Instead of worrying about every single little detail and taking a long ass time I just went straight in and worked out the details.

Sometimes I have writing work to submit and I don’t feel so hot about it. Then I stop and say “Just Ship It.”

Really awesome to hear about fellow Portlanders being successful. I stumbled across Seans blog a few weeks back and have been reading every post. This one takes the cake and I will be pulling the trigger on the blueprint soon

This is a great article, thanks for the inspiration. I think after reading this, I see the some areas I could have shifted the direction of my own site, and my freelance activities. Thanks for sharing!

One of the best messages and a personal story from Location Reble. The email templates is epic and such a great advice to get started acquiring clients. For one of our designer business to find clients locally this would be a great way of doing.

As you mentioned it’s a numbers game, last week to land two webdesign client, I’ve probably searched Twitter for a week for potential prospects and messaged them after connecting.

I was already going through the LR SEO writing blueprint when you posted this, but this was a great supplement that breaks it down to the most basic parts. And honestly, I’m finding that the hardest thing can be just focusing on the basics. Write some samples, find some companies and email like a madman.

So far I’m doing so much better following the steps you, Tom and Sean outlined than I was trying to come up with a perfect money making plan but never actually putting it into action.

I used your email template, with some tweaks, and I’ve already got one definite client and two that look pretty good after less than a week!

The local connection worked because these internet marketing companies are trying to find legitimate people they can trust. By having that local connection they know who you are. On more than one occasion I have met up with some of my clients.

Ultimately the local connection brings a level of security that the owner of the company is going to struggle to find with Elance or Odesk.

There are some people who use Fiverr but it’s never hurt my rates. At the end of the day if your writing great content and you can convey that value you to the right client you have nothing to worry about.

Very good read and glad to see you are having some success with SEO writing. I have been talking about SEO since I moved to Los Angeles, after I quit my corporate job and moved here to pursue acting. I am looking into ways to make money while being able to do something I love.

I also love writing and giving people good information so this seemed like the most natural approach to obtaining this lifestyle. As of now I have been reading everything I can get my hands on from these sites and hope to be able to start SEO writing soon.

earlier I started one similar blog but that didn’t got traffic so my campaign died. Now I came to know that I never converted my readers. The email tips were really helpful and new to me. I’ll definitely try them out now. Thanks

Great post! I’m working on my own website and emails as I write this. Hoping for success!

I actually found a really interesting article written in July of 2012 on Forbes website. It talks about the “death” of SEO work and how in it’s very nature it is “fake.” It also discusses how Google is leading the way in online marketing and “real” content posted on social media will take over anything SEO related. It predicts the death of SEO in 2 year (I guess a year from now ha).

Any thoughts on this from Kevin/Sean/Anyone? Maybe if you think this opinion is true or false and how it could possibly affect those of us who may rely on SEO to build a particular lifestyle?

Kevin, I have few words that add any value to what’s already been said. Your article was awesome! There’s nothing I love more than step 1-2-3 and go! This is the way I like to write and read from others, because the takeaway is so concrete. You give it, we take it and do the steps. You can bet I’ll be doing them all.

I relate to intimately with SEO writing because that happens to be my day job at the moment (although it’s a temporary contract and will be ending soon). I am absolutely determined to use that experience and what I learn here at LR to build my business. As a serial expat, I’m looking forward to getting back abroad soon. I also want to help others get there, too. I’m seeing too many talented people jobless and wondering what next week, next month, next year will bring. It doesn’t have to be that way!

Now, what does everyone think of the last comment, about SEO dying out by next year? I personally have my opinions about social media. Here’s my take: Social media has its value but the real writing, the real nine yards of info on any topic of value will be properly written for both the reader and the search engines for some time to come.

Also, can we get to exactly how to do SEO research the proper way to write a properly optimized article or post? Let’s hear from you all who are doing it!

It’s great to hear how people are all motivated and come crashing out of the gates with $1500-$3000 in their first couple of months. But I think it’d be more interesting to hear a long-term case study. Has anyone consistently grown their business over the last 12+ months? Have they taken the Location Rebel skills and branched out into new ventures?

Kevin, as a fellow Floridian, I’m glad to learn of your success. Congratulations, and thank you for a clear and concise article. Although I have not yet signed up for LR, I’ve been learning from Sean Ogle and the community, and I must say I’m intrigued. I’m a bilingual copywriter at my day job and I’ve been freelancing on my own time, strictly through word of mouth, but the location-independent life is calling me. Your story is very encouraging. I guess it’s time to take things up a notch! Thanks, and if you ever find yourself in the Ft. Lauderdale/Miami area, let me know and lunch is on me!

Hi Kevin,
i want to appreciate the way you represented the topic of SEO writing, you have made it look very simple by discussing all the basic requirement of a web content writing keeping in the mind the importance of search engine related to web content. it help lots of beginner who want to make a career in web content writing and SEO
thank you

There are a number of things that you need to do when you are writing an SEO article. This involves right keyword density (which shouldn’t be more than 2%). The main keyword should appear in both the title and the body of the article. Check Ezine.com and read its editorial policy. Its comes closest to the format of an SEO article.

I am so impressed by your step by step approach to SEO content writing. I have been blogging for a few months now but I am looking for ways to develop my skills better. I am looking forward to learning more.
Thanks for taking the time and effort to write.

I’ll second that: how did you come by your first client? And for others, the second, third, fourth, etc.

That’s the really tough part. Let’s face it, there IS competition. For that matter, we are all competition. And, for everyone who’s been established for a while: Where do you see SEO going in a few years? I’ve been hearing it may be dying.

Great site and first time I have come across it – thanks to Carlo’s fab site is how I found it. I’m having a look into a location independent lifestyle myself after years of living around in different cities but without much freedom. Thanks for the tips and intro to this site. Jonny

I’d be interested in seeing some sample articles–or at least excerpts if you’re worried about plagiarism–just to give me some idea of the type of content being shopped for and purchased. Is that possible?

Consider writing SEO for your own site development,
garnering top search engine organic results. Goal is to
create a passive cash flow, rather than getting paid
for writing individual articles. On the right track, though.
Further, automate with php or other programming techniques,
and multiply your efforts.

Great article and I entirely agree! One technology which incorporates this concept is Enginuity Search. By adding social relevancy to SEO related information, you can find information that is more ‘socially’ relevant and modern than those who optimize purely for search engine links. This type of search methodology also prevents robots and spammers from promoting ‘unpopular’ information.

Again, great article. But people are SO busy. We never did get an answer to the question of HOW to do SEO — how to do keyword research, how often to use keywords, etc. — in other words, how to do what you’re all saying is such a great opportunity.

And, the second question was, what do you all think is happening with SEO? Is it growing, staying stable, or dying as some say it is? I need to get an good education on all of this and I know I have to invest. I want to join LR. But I’d like some opinions on the future of this and other online work. Things change so quickly. Maybe someone can opine as to where they think this is all going. If I become a blogger or an affiliate marketer today, and it somehow becomes successful, what are the chances it has of lasting 10 years? If I start out with SEO writing — in addition to editing which is the other half of my profession — how long can that possibly last with all the talk about SEO dying?

I am so inquisitive to know more about SEO writing yet I am scared of the unknown. Thank you to the commentators though, for giving extra advice, it’s helping to braoden my thinking. Everyone seems so knowledgeable and helpful. I think the time has come for me to join LR.

I have been lurking this site for months and this past weekend I finally decided to start my blog. I struggled with setting it up, since I have limited technical knowledge but I figured it all out (yay!). Now I just have to add the finishing touches and write my first blogpost.

I am nervous about putting my writing out there. (Guess I can’t handle the criticism…) Lets see what happens…

Kevin,
To say a mere ‘Thank you” doesn’t cut it. You had me at $3,000 in two months.
I am following your steps verbatim, and working with less than no coin (wordpress.com to the rescue).
My goal is to break financially free from my husband by the time my youngest graduates high school next year…Am I tripping daisies?
I live in Medellin, Colombia right now so count me as a Location Rebel. But I dearly miss my Florida sun! Viva la Estados Unidos!!! (or something like that.)
Thank you, Gracias, and keep up your stellar work!

I love your guide and I think it’s great for you to be showing us all of these useful tips. However, I have a question about non-native English speakers, such as myself, who live nowhere close to English speaking countries.
I’ve a MA degree in English, and consider to have better than average writing skills, yet my not being a native speaker and having a different place of abode than majority of companies with which I’d like to work with, has proven to be a big issue. Do you have any suggestions to overcome that obstacle?

Great tips Kevin. Did as you advised and sent out about 170 emails but no response. Ended giving some of the companies a follow-up call and they said they had in-house writers. Is there any advice you could give?

I know someone who writes 500 word articles and sells them for £25 each, he makes roughly about 10 articles a day. If i was you id work out from this how many articles you rekon you could make, then work out how much a month that is. Then after all that if you want more money or even less so you work less hours then you know roughly how much to do.

Definitely not a scam. Kevin wrote this guest post as a favor to me, so the fact he continued to respond to comments for as long as he did is great! Feel free to email me at [email protected] if you have questions about this type of work, or if you’d like me to put you in touch with Kevin directly to answer your questions.

I echo Sean’s words. It’s not a scam. I did this and I’ve helped countless people do the same.

I have indeed stopped responding to comments on here, but I still get a few emails per month from readers of this post, and I help each and every one. Please send me an email at [email protected] if you have any questions.

One thing that’s left out in this otherwise very helpful article is HOW Kevin collected the payments. Please expand on this. PayPal is easy but they will block a lot of people from having a PayPal account and block even more from collecting payments or adding a bank account to it. Third party merchants can be expensive and they usually want a lot of info. Any info you provide on this is appreciated. Thanks

I’ll say that it’s totally possible to bring in some income with SEO writing. But you’ll need to write a lot. Also, you’ll have to be able to stomach writing for content mills. I do this to keep my income coming in. There can be dry periods from the more lucrative paying clients.

I write six articles every day. .. and sometimes take a couple days off to recharge my batteries. A good week can net me well over $400 dollars. A bad week less than $100.

It has it’s up and downs. But if you sign up with enough services and work to bring in private clients – it’s doable.

First off, great article. I’ve been looking forever for a ‘from scratch’ step by step guide. But secondly:
Wait, hold up; location is important? I live in rural Canada. There isn’t much of a writing market here, besides local newspapers (most of which do not have websites). Do you really need a local marketing company to hire you? I thought the whole point of writing for the internet is you could ‘do it from your own home’. I’ve lived here all my life and never heard of any online agencies ‘based’ nearby. What defines ‘local’ anyway? The same town? Riding? State/province? Time zone? I want to write for the sites which are popular and interest me, not only local sites. Or am I stuck? Can anyone give any advice to the more secluded writers?

Kevin’s site is definitely not a scam. I write for some higher paying content mills and earn about $2,500 a month part time. I just happened upon his site, as I’m considering putting up a writer’s website of my own.

On my quest for becoming a SEO writer, I’ve made some simple searches on Google for SEO writer, just to understand the amount and the strength of the possible competitors…
I must say that there are many strong business already well established on this field.

They have a very low rate for writing an article, something like less then 2$ for 100 words that would be less then 10$ for a 400 words article, that I think is the average for blogs, reviews and affiliate marketing websites. With this in mind I can calculate that writing 2×400 words articles a day, that would be already the top for me at the moment, it would give me a 300$ per month, working all week including Saturday and Sunday.

For the competitors I reckon that there should be so much request for SEO content writers that it could be feasible that someone would pick me up out of the hundreds of requests I would send out. But my concern is about the rates, I’ve imagined a rate of 30-40$ for a 350-400 words article but this looks like 3-4 times the rate applied on the market average. So I’m now again a bit stuck thinking that maybe this is not worth to invest my time and efforts.

@Marco Volpe… You’re right about the average rate and some of the companies out there who provide the services. I’ve worked for many of them and stopped because the time and effort spent on the articles taught me a certain amount but did not yield much in terms of dollars$.

However, I did discover a lot of companies prefer to deal with writers directly. They don’t have a middle man and can negotiate the terms better. Many companies are willing to pay extra for this as it’s much less hassle for them.

Also, regarding the number… where did you find this info? I checked the number as well and it’s from the Clearwater, Florida area just as Kevin states on the site. No Joseph in site.

I’m a copywriter, and so far it’s been spotty finding clients through different forums etc. I like the idea of reaching and cold emailing clients with a email from a template. I’ve been rather hesitant to do that in the past, not so much because of the rejection, more because of spam laws and a question of how effective it would be.

Using a simple template like yours I can see how it would be very simple to do, and not too pushy. So thanks for the inspiration!

Hey Sean, I’ve really enjoyed reading through your articles lately. they are incredibly inspirational.
Sorry to be a Debbie Downer but what freaks me out a little after the initial excitement of starting a business is all the legal stuff. Like legislations when you exchange goods for money, (whether it be an ebook) or getting sued etc. I am a complete novice here and would welcome any advice or thoughts.
cheers!

Great article here. I can vouch for this information as it’s pretty much EXACTLY what I did when I started out writing SEO content for agencies and firms.

I once spent an entire day sending out hundreds of e-mails to get new clients, and within a matter of days I actually had too much work… so, don’t believe people when they tell you it’s going to take a while to build up a client base. With marketing, you get out what you put in. I thought it’d take weeks for potential clients to bite, but instead it was days due to the sheer amount of businesses I had reached out to.

Also, many will tell you that you need to start out with low rates to compete. This is completely untrue. Good agencies usually know the value of good content and want nothing to do with the $5 content market.

I started on $25 per 500 words, and very quickly a couple of my clients asked me how I can afford to write for such a low price. Heck, I’m not an outstanding writer. You don’t need to be at that kind of rate, your content just needs to be clear, concise and informative, with a good level of detail.

If you can make your content more interesting and entertaining by telling a story or applying a certain tone or style, you can charge more, even $50-$100 per 500 words. The more results-driven your content, the more valuable it is.

If you don’t have capital and you need a quick and ongoing income, I can’t think of a better business idea than starting up as a freelance SEO writer. It pulled me out of a real financial hole.

This post is fantastic. Last month I followed this outline almost exactly. It took me 64 emails to get a couple responses and eventually land on client with $500-$1000 of reoccurring work.

A major factor in my success was finding other people who were already SEO writers who outsourced work to me. I wasn’t getting paid much but after doing a number of acceptable articles for them it got my confidence way up where I was ready to take on clients.

A second factor was sending emails to local SEO companies. The guys that hired me liked the fact that I was local just in case they needed me to come in the office for some reason. I doubt that will even happen, we still haven’t seen each other face to face and I’m providing ongoing work for them.

I had been making location rebellion a lot harder for myself than I had to. I was jumping through a lot of self-created hoops that only existed in my own mind. Things only started moving when I dove in and followed the path laid out by others. It’s not necessarily easy, but it’s simple.

Thanks a lot for being so generous in sharing your thoughts. I have no site but want to get one. Which is the best one you suggest for a beginner. I am passionate in writing. Is it possible to write letters also?

I really enjoyed the post, very informative and it helped me with some problems I was facing with another site I run. I am very new to the SEO world and I am looking to put this article into action but I really need to learn the basics and fundamentals of SEO before starting. Can you guys recommend any free courses/programs that I can take that would give me the training and knowledge of basic SEO and enough so I am able to start a site like the one above and start to generate an income from this?

Great article Kevin. Following your advice, I have just created my freelance content writing website. Truth be told though, it took me about a week to get it up and running due to teaching wordpress to myself and also experiencing writer’s block. Now I’m trying to get clients. I still haven’t landed a single one yet but hopefully that changes soon.

Hi Kevin and Sean. I’ve been trying to get clients following your advice but to no avail. I’ve used an email template very similar to yours and have sent out over 180 emails so far and only had 2 companies reply back inquiring about pricing. Once I told them my prices I never heard back. I’m charging $25 per a 500 word article and $20 if they order 20 or more articles which I think is more then reasonable. I’ve been getting quite discouraged as I continue looking for clients but not getting anywhere.

OK SO I SET UP A BUSINESS ACCOUNT BUT MAYBE I SHOULDN’T DO THAT UNTIL I’M MAKING GOOD MONEY? I AM CONFUSED HOW TO SET UP FOR PEOPLE TO PAY ME. SO IF I USE PAYPAL DO YOU USE CREDIT CARDS OR HAVE THEM SEND VIA AN EMAIL?

What a great article, Kevin!
As I was reading, I felt that tinge that comes when you finally see someone who’s walked in the same shoes as you.
Let me explain. I quite my job as an Accountant to step into the world of freelance writing. I had procrastinated on this for 2 years, but I was miserable. So I prepared myself the best I can and quit my job determined to be free and travel the world.
I bought an expensive theme template with all sorts of flowery razzmatazz, set up an office and went to work writing articles for my blog. I wrote tons of articles and posted on my blog.
Two months later, nothing. Six months later, nothing.
Yet I had optimized my site as well as I could. To cut a long story short, I eventually had to close shop and move back to my parents house and begin from scratch.

Reading your article, I think where I went wrong is the marketing bit, because I’m not much of a marketer. I’m kinda shy. So I was hoping people would somehow ‘stumble’ upon my site. I like what you say about a email template. I now it sounds weird, but I never thought of sending out email shots to local business listings.

When I listed in my local business directory and forced myself to go out into my neighborhood and introduce my new line of work, that’s when I got writing jobs and it grew from there.
IN failing, I learnt my own formula of success and I can see it mirrors everything you are talking about.
Now, I am a freelance fashion blog writer and making a tidy sum, though not as much as my regular job, but enough for me to move out and get my own flat once again! Phew!
I know this is kinda long, but thought I’d share:-)
Cecilia

AWESOME! Writing for SEO without sounding like an SEO is easier these days. Ridiculous keyword stuffing is redundant and luckily Google is better penalizing for it. I’m generating ideas on my next piece of content with keyword tools. I like search suggestion tools like Answerthepublic.com or sg.serpstat.com but being organic in your writing isn’t something you can acquire with a tool)

So SEO writing is still a possibility… I’d thought that one had gotten old after a while, because I still don’t personally know anyone successfully doing it. But my main question today is, how do you convince potential clients of your ability to write for them if you have no direct experience in their field?

All the ads I’ve seen for SEO writing or just web writing in general require applicants to already have experience or specialized knowledge in the fields being advertised. I have no experience as a web writer or as an online writer in general. I just have a few ancient newspaper clips, from the 90’s (and I can’t even access them).

What do you really, truly do when you have no experience and want to enter this field?